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Posts Tagged ‘Zach Galifianakis’

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman, an inventive Gotham-set dramedy about the mid-life crisis of a former movie star desperately trying to revive his career by going to Broadway — played, in an Oscar-caliber performance, by Michael Keaton, with support from Edward Norton, Naomi Watts and Emma Stone — is being released by Fox Searchlight in select theaters Friday.

Over the past week, the aforementioned individuals made a barrage of appearances in New York (Keaton hit Los Angeles last month), some aimed at driving moviegoers to the box-office to see the $18 million film — which is not the easiest sell — but much of it geared toward courting Oscar voters during the small window in which these folks were available to do so.

Every Friday, Rachel recaps the week’s major TV-related news, announcements and gossip!

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TOP STORIES

• In a rare occurrence, there’s a lot of Mad Men (AMC) news this week. The drama will kick off its sixth season April 7 with a two-hour premiere/movie, which will see the series jump forward in time — although creator Matthew Weiner isn’t revealing by how much. To tide you over, here are four promo shots from the new season.

• Sadly, it seems former NBC’s The Office star Steve Carell won’t be returning for the comedy’s series finale. Of the decision not to reprise his role, the actor says, “I just didn’t think it was right for the character because that character had had an arc within the story and kind of grew and sort of evolved past the idea of the documentary.”

• Two disappointing almost-cancellations to report: ABC and Fox have pulledDon’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 and Ben and Kate from their schedules, respectively. Although the comedies haven’t officially been canceled, don’t hold your breath for additional seasons.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively the names of the film industry professionals who will receive five prizes that will be presented at the 16th annual Hollywood Film Awards — the first awards show of the 2012 Oscar season — when its gala ceremony is held on Oct. 22 at the Beverly Hilton.

Writer-director Judd Apatow(This Is 40) will receive the Hollywood Comedy Award, which honors the year’s best comedic talent and has previously gone to the likes of Ben Stiller, Bradley Cooperand Zach Galifianakis. (It was not presented last year.)

Actress Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), who turned nine less than one month ago, will receive the New Hollywood Award, which honors the year’s best new talent and has previously gone to the likes of Robert Pattinson, Gabourey Sidibe, Jennifer Lawrence, and, last year, Felicity Jones (Like Crazy).

When long-term congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district.

This time, it’s time to document the worst of the worst in cinema for the 2011 movie year. Of course, while most critics make a point to try to seek out the allegedly best in cinema in any given year, not quite as much effort is made to track down every would-be stinker. As such, I’ve tried to highlight truly terrible films that either ‘damn well should have been good’ or represent something greater than itself via its artistic failure. Anyway, without further pretentious ado, here are the nine worst films in alphabetical order, followed by the absolute worst picture in 2011.

Variety: Andrew Stewart notes that Julian Schnabel’s “Miral” isn’t the only film from The Weinstein Company with a release date change this week. According to the studio, Ben Affleck’s “The Company Men” has also been pushed back — but, unlike “Miral,” not out of this year’s race — from October 22 to December 10. No reason for the move was provided.

Deadline Hollywood: Nikki Finke passes along the Academy’s announcement that it has chosen eight short subject documentaries (from a list of thirty that were eligible) for its short list of contenders for a 2011 Academy Award, three to five of which will receive actual nominations and one of which will take home a statuette.

The Film Experience: Nathaniel Rogers spots the fun stat that Jesse Eisenberg would bump Matt Damon off the list of the top 10 youngest nominees for the best actor Oscar if — as he is widely expected to — he receives a best actor nomination for “The Social Network.” Eisenberg would be 27 years old, as was Damon when he was nominated for “Good Will Hunting” (1997), but 14 days younger.

Hollywood-Elsewhere: Jeff Wells writes that Rosamund Pike “easily gives the most arresting performance” in both “Made in Dagenham” and “Barney’s World,” portraying “elegant, well-educated wives of character and principle” in both, and urges Academy members to look beyond those films’ flaws and nominate one of her performances for best supporting actress. (Scott agrees.)

The Washington Post: Tim Craig and Bull Turque report that Michelle Rhee, the no-nonsense chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools (who is featured prominently in Davis Guggenheim’s doc “Waiting for ‘Superman’”), has resigned from her post after 3.5 years. The city’s “presumptive mayor-elect” (who, in a recent primary, ousted the mayor who appointed Rhee) said it was a “mutual decision” to part ways, but Rhee described it as “heartbreaking.”

The Wrap: Steve Pond reports that Bruce Davis, the Academy’s executive director and “highest-ranking salaried employee,” will be retiring after 30 years spent overseeing some of the most monumental shifts within AMPAS. In an email to his staff, Davis wrote, “Organizations and individuals both benefit from periodic shifts in perspective.”

The Playlist: Oli Lyttelton believes there are “plenty of viral Internet comedy shows out there competing for your procrastination time,” but “none of them have managed to be as consistently funny and generally excellent” as Zach Galifianakis’s “Between Two Ferns” on the Funny or Die site. In the latest installment, Galifianakis sits down with “Red” star Bruce Willis, and hilarity quickly ensues.